Shadow Tears
by Aella
Summary: On his trip back to Hyrule, Link is attacked by the newly formed alliance between Hyrule Gerudo thieves and Termina Gerudo pirates and is forced to take a detour through Termina. Meeting old friends and new, can they get to the bottom of this new threat?
1. Prologue: Shooting Stars

Game Spoilers: Ocarina, Majora, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, possibly Wind Waker...

Zelda tugged at her left glove as she paced nervously back and forth in her bed room. It had only been one week since she left Labrynna, but she couldn't get rid of the feeling that something had happened to Link, the boy who had saved her from those two Gerudo witches.

"You haven't had any visions or dreams yet," she said to herself in a futile attempt to calm herself down. In the past, Zelda had had dreams that forewarned her of possible danger like when the Gerudo man stormed the castle (but later disappeared) or when the oracles were in danger. She also had a feeing that Link would need the Ocarina of Time and then, he wound up in Hyrule's neighboring country Termina. "No," Zelda said as she sat down on her bed, she knew that it was the same kind of feeling that she had back then, four years ago.

"My lady," a voice said from behind her, causing Zelda to jump slightly.

"Lire," Zelda said as she recognized the slight accent. Lire, a distant relative of Impa and Impa's replacement, was one of the Sheikah that had recently reappeared in Karkariko Village. Her blond hair pulled back into a simple ponytail and her slight frame suggested that she was weaker than she truly was. "Stop calling me that."

"I am truly sorry... your highness," she said as she quickly searched for another word she could substitute "my lady" with.

"I give up, Lire. You purposely try and annoy me, don't you?" Zelda said as she started for her balcony. Lire followed quickly with a smile on her face.

"Of course not, your queeness."

"You're making up titles now!" Zelda said as she leaned against the wall. With the seasons back in order, the day was a typical autumn day in Hyrule, the temperature barely above freezing. "Does someone want you to tell me something?"

"Umm, yes, no, well, umm, I thought you might like to know about Link..."

"Link? What about him? Lire? Is it bad? Oh dear..." Zelda moved at what seemed like an impossible speed to Lire. One instant she was standing at the edge of the balcony and next, she was grabbing Lire's arm and speaking almost too quickly for Lire to understand. Ancient Hyrulian, no problem for Lire, but this more modern form of Hyrulian made almost no sense to Lire. Oh well, at least there were other Sheikahs who spoke her dialect and Ancient Hyrulian.

"Calm down, please," Lire said as she managed to remove her arm from Zelda's iron grip, "intelligence reports aren't certain of his exact whereabouts, but the ship he took from Labrynna had been attacked by Gerudo thieves..."

"Gerudo Thieves? Do you mean pirates? You have to, why would the thieves attack a ship?" Zelda asked as she walked back to the railing and leaned against it.

"Erm, with their new alliance, it could have been either of them..."

"Alliance? What?"

"Please... stop interrupting," Lire said as she struggled to control her level of annoyance.

"Ok. Sorry," Zelda said quickly, eager to get Lire to continue on. Lire shot her a quick look, something that could have gotten her in trouble.

"The ship has been commandeered by the Gerudos and the passengers and crew being held hostage. Our spies have not confirmed his presence among them and actually believe that he managed to escape."

"Or died fighting."

"Unlikely, from what I understand, fate seems to take kindly towards Link," Lire answered in an attempt to cheer Zelda up. "May I leave? I have other chores before I go home."

"You're dismissed." Lire paused a few seconds as if she was worried about Zelda before leaving. After waiting what seemed like hours, Zelda turned towards the sky and studied the skies. "Link, where are you?" She asked the heavens as shooting stars streaked across the sky.

A/N: Please don't point out that there's only one Gerudo born every hundred years, Zelda didn't recognize Link in OoS/OoA, and other stuff that doesn't follow the Zelda games exactly because I'll give you a lame excuse. Like Link didn't take the ocarina with him because he wasn't planning on going on another adventure and that's why he didn't have it in the oracle games. Should Gerudos be Gerudoes?


	2. Talking Turtles and Trouble Twins

I can't remember what title I used in the past for a similar story (I deleted it about two or three years ago), but I do know that I will change this title. Since I have become sort of a Fire Emblem fan too, I am stealing their triangle/rock paper scissors magic in I think the fourth game. Wind beats thunder, thunder beats fire, fire beats wind. Now, for some Fire Emblem 7, dark beats the elements/anima, light beats dark, anima beats light (if I use light and dark magic).

"Link... Liiinnnkkkk," Someone was calling his name, even exaggerating it a point where Link wondered how long they had been trying to wake him. Should he open his eyes? He didn't want to, but someone sure seemed determined to keep on repeating his name over and over till he did. Opening his eyes, Link blinked a few times from the sudden brightness. How long had he been asleep? Two palm trees... he was on an island? Wasn't he supposed to be on a ship? "Link. Liiiiii..."

"What?" Link snapped and immediately regretted it. His head was killing him.

"Ah, you are awake. Are you seriously injured?" The person asked again and Link stood up so he could see whom was talking to him. "Watch it!" The voice yelled at him as Link fell back onto the island, or shell actually. He was riding the talking turtle in the Great Bay! Last time he saw him had to be about three or four years ago.

"Sorry," Link said as he turned around so he would be facing the back of the turtle's head. "Where am I?"

"On the back of my shell," the turtle answered before making a coughing noise. Wait, no, the turtle was laughing!

"I see that," Link answered as he smiled at the turtle's little joke.

"You happen to be on the far reaches of The Great Bay. The Gerudos attacked your ship for their own personal reasons."

"They did? When?"

"A day ago."

"A day ago, I was out an entire day?" Link asked as he rubbed his head.

"Yes, yes. The ship has been added to the pirates own fleet, although, I personally believe that most of the crew on the pirate ship had been Gerudo thieves."

"Gerudo thieves? Hyrulian Gerudo Thieves?" Link exclaimed in shock.

"Well, yes. It's not really that odd, if you think about it. They both steal things and consist of primarily women, so they have that in common. And you aren't the only one who have came over from Hyrule. Where do you think Termina gets most of its Deku Sticks? Half of the merchants won't dare get close to Deku Babas and the children of Kokiri, well, occasional trading never hurt anyone," the turtle explained.

"I didn't know that the Kokiri traded with people outside of the forest," Link said, amazed that he could live with the Kokiri children most of his childhood and not know something as big as that.

"No, not people. Business Scrubs."

"Ah, yeah, I guess that would make sense. A lot of people turn into monsters if they enter the forest, or so the legends go," Link said as he slowly stood up. This time, he didn't fall down again. Link moved towards the palm trees and leaned against the trunk. His leg was injured, not badly, his blood had some dried blood on the side, and his back was mostly likely bruised. It was odd, but Link did not have any memory of the fight.

"Thanks."

"Thanks for what, boy?" The turtle asked, "Zora Cove is in view."

"For saving me. Yeah, I can see it. Hey, can I ask you a question?" Link asked.

"Why not? Ask away."

"What's your name?" Link asked.

"You know what, Alex?" Alec asked as he sat on the top bunk and kicked off his shoes.

"What?" His twin brother asked as he flipped through a fire magic book. Fire magic, it had to be Alex's worst area in the three element magics. He preferred wind magic because, well, he and his brother were wind mages.

* * *

"You're a jerk."

"You just now figured that out, Alec? Aren't you supposed to be the smarter one?"

"I haven't been around as long as you have been."

"Oh, that's real smart. How do you know that I'm older, anyway?"

"Because father and mother both told us in the past, idiot."

"Sheesh, someone's in a bad mood," he muttered underneath his breath before adding loudly, "maybe we were switched at birth. I'm really Alec and you're really Alex. Ever thought about that?"

"Because we weren't."

"You don't know."

"You don't know either."

"How do you know? Maybe I developed the power to see the future."

"Because you can't see the future. Only probabilities."

"The same thing," Alex shrugged before dropping the book into his open bag.

"Is not."

"When is Theo supposed to get back?" Alex quickly tried to change the subject.

"Well, Mr. Probability, you can figure that out for yourself. Besides, seeing the future isn't seeing the past."

"Whatever. Just drop it," Alex said as he started for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Theo will be mad," Alec warned as he wondered if his brother would do it. Theo, an ax-wielding giant (at least in Alec's opinion) who happened to be descended from a few great berserkers could go, well, berserk now and then if the twins did something he disapproved of.

"Theo is always mad."

"So? He'll be even madder. Besides, we're supposed to wait for _them_ to return."

"Them? I wonder what they're doing. Want to find out?" Alex asked as he smiled at his brother before leaving. Alec glanced out the window for a moment before jumping off the bed and following his brother.


End file.
